Publications by authors named "WALLIS L"

Background: Regulations restricting the promotion of some less-healthy products high in fat, sugar, or salt (HFSS) within "restricted areas" (RAs) of supermarkets came into force in October 2022 in England.

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of HFSS products and front-of-pack nutrition labeling (FOPNL) characteristics of foods sold within RAs in a sample of supermarket stores.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of products in RAs in 3 supermarkets was undertaken from November 2022 to February 2023 using photographs, recording the display of FOPNL.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates when dogs are classified as "old" through analysis of veterinary clinical narratives, focusing on their welfare as they age.
  • A sample of 1,000 consultations identified 832 dogs considered to be of old age, with most dogs entering this stage around 7.25 years, particularly varying by breed.
  • Common health issues in older dogs included weight, musculoskeletal, dental, integumentary, and digestive conditions, suggesting a need for targeted health interventions as dogs age.
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Objectives: Providing care for injured children is challenging in resource-poor settings. While checklists can assess local capacities and guide the setting of priorities for improvement, key insights can be gained from consultation with locally practising clinicians. This study aimed to highlight barriers to and facilitators of the delivery of paediatric injury care experienced by clinicians from hospitals at different levels of care in Maputo, Mozambique.

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Background: The Emergency Department(ED) team need to make sense of an ever-changing dynamic environment. The stories people tell about everyday occurrences are central to how sense-making occurs. These stories also contribute to organisational culture, with the frequently told narratives maintaining organisational identity and shaping behaviour.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a serious issue with low survival rates (under 10%) in high-income countries and even worse in resource-limited settings, highlighting the need for better data on how to allocate limited resources effectively.
  • - The study aimed to determine the cost-effectiveness of various interventions for OHCA and evaluate their affordability in different income levels by reviewing existing economic evaluations from various databases.
  • - Out of 468 articles reviewed, only 46 met the criteria, mainly focusing on the US healthcare perspective; findings suggest starting investments in areas like resuscitation protocols and CPR training to improve survival outcomes.
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Background: Group B streptococcus (GBS) remains a leading cause of infant sepsis, meningitis and death despite intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis. A vaccine is urgently required, and two candidates are in advanced clinical trials. For successful GBS vaccine implementation, especially if a vaccine is licensed based on an immunological threshold, there must be cross-sector engagement, effective advocacy, robust plans for phase IV studies and equitable access.

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Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the sources of influence which impact choosing an operating department practitioner career among current operating department practitioner students in England to inform recommendations for maximising recruitment and retention.

Methods: An online questionnaire was disseminated to allied health professional, inclusive of operating department practitioner, students in England in 2021.

Results: One hundred and fifty operating department practitioner students attending undergraduate courses completed the questionnaire.

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Background: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a prevalent condition with high mortality and poor outcomes even in settings where extensive emergency care resources are available. Interventions to address OHCA have had limited success, with survival rates below 10% in national samples of high-income countries. In resource-limited settings, where scarcity requires careful priority setting, more data is needed to determine the optimal allocation of resources.

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Objective: This study examined the trade-offs low-resource setting community members were willing to make in regard to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest care using a discrete choice experiment survey.

Methods: We administered a discrete choice experiment survey to a sample of community members 18 years or older across South Africa between April and May 2022. Participants were presented with 18 paired choice tasks comprised of 5 attributes (distance to closest adequate facility, provider of care, response time, chances of survival, and transport cost) and a range of 3 to 5 levels.

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Perceptions of dog owners and veterinary professionals (surgeons/nurses) can influence the preventive healthcare and treatment provided to dogs, especially at the senior life-stage, when chronic diseases become more common. This study compared perceptions of healthcare of dogs as they age between dog owners and veterinary professionals. Data from two online surveys (owners:  = 633, veterinary professionals:  = 305) examined perceived need for veterinary visits and vaccinations.

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Background: The aggregation and spread of misfolded amyloid structured proteins, such as tau and α-synuclein, are key pathological features associated with neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. These proteins possess a prion-like property, enabling their transmission from cell to cell leading to propagation throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems. While the mechanisms underlying their intracellular spread are still being elucidated, targeting the extracellular space has emerged as a potential therapeutic approach.

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Objectives: The present study aimed to establish appropriate quality standards for emergency departments (EDQS) in Palestine.

Methods: The study comprised four phases. First, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to develop a framework for assessing healthcare services in EDs.

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Introduction: Previous studies deriving and validating triage scores for patients with suspected COVID-19 in Emergency Department settings have been conducted in high- or middle-income settings. We assessed eight triage scores' accuracy for death or organ support in patients with suspected COVID-19 in Sudan.

Methods: We conducted an observational cohort study using Covid-19 registry data from eight emergency unit isolation centres in Khartoum State, Sudan.

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Incidence of road traffic collisions (RTCs), types of users involved, and healthcare requirement afterwards are essential information for efficient policy making. We analysed individual-level data from nationally representative surveys conducted in low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) between 2008-2019. We describe the weighted incidence of non-fatal RTC in the past 12 months, type of road user involved, and incidence of traffic injuries requiring medical attention.

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Background: Increased vasoreactivity due to reduced endothelial NO bioavailability is an underlying feature of cardiovascular disease, including hypertension. In small resistance arteries, declining NO enhances vascular smooth muscle (VSM) reactivity partly by enabling rapid depolarizing Ca-based spikes that underlie vasospasm. The endogenous NO synthase inhibitor asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is metabolized by DDAH1 (dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 1) and elevated in cardiovascular disease.

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Objectives: Prehospital transfusion can be life-saving when transport is delayed but conventional plasma, red cells, and whole blood are often unavailable out of hospital. Shelf-stable products are needed as a temporary bridge to in-hospital transfusion. Bioplasma FDP (freeze-dried plasma) and Hemopure (hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier; HBOC) are products with potential for prehospital use.

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Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the 7th commonest cancer in the UK and the most lethal urological malignancy; 50% of all RCC patients will die from the condition. However, if identified early enough, small RCCs are usually cured by surgery or percutaneous procedures, with 95% 10 year survival. This study describes a newly developed non-invasive urine-based assay for the early detection of RCC.

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Introduction: Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are disproportionally affected by conditions requiring emergency care but there are limited contextually appropriate studies performed within these settings involving the patient population and healthcare systems they aim to benefit. Over the past five years, researchers in the Western Cape of South Africa have produced approximately 20 % of all emergency care publications from Africa, yet no agreed list of research priorities exists. Establishing research priorities, via recognised consensus methods, can ensure that efforts and resources in LMICs are more appropriately targeted to the need.

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Nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) in ruxolitinib-treated patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms behave aggressively, with adverse features and high recurrence. In our cohort, mortality from metastatic NMSC exceeded that from myelofibrosis. Vigilant skin assessment, counseling on NMSC risks, and prospective ruxolitinib-NMSC studies are crucial.

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Introduction: Emergency medical service (EMS) resources are limited and should be reserved for incidents of appropriate acuity. Over-triage in dispatching of EMS resources is a global problem. Analysing patients that are not transported to hospital is valuable in contributing to decision-making models/algorithms to better inform dispatching of resources.

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Introduction: There is a substantial body of knowledge on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on injuries showing frequent but inconsistent reductions in both volume and pattern. Yet, studies specifically addressing children are less common, not least from low- and middle-income countries. This study investigated whether changes in the pattern and outcome of paediatric injury admissions to Mozambique's four regional referral hospitals during 2020.

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Introduction: Prehospital care in many low- and middle-income countries is underdeveloped and needs strengthening for improved outcomes. Where formal prehospital care systems are under development, integration of a layperson first responder programme may help improve access for those in need. The World Health Organization recently developed the Community First Aid Responder (CFAR) learning program in support of this system, providing that it may require adaptation to be contextually suitable and sustainably implemented at country level.

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COVID-19 infection rates remain high in South Africa. Clinical prediction models may be helpful for rapid triage, and supporting clinical decision making, for patients with suspected COVID-19 infection. The Western Cape, South Africa, has integrated electronic health care data facilitating large-scale linked routine datasets.

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